The crystal of a watch or other instrument can be formed of mineral crystal, gemstone crystal, or synthetic plastic. The protection of the crystal of the watch becomes extremely important when, as in many high-fashion or mass-produced watches, the crystal is fabricated from synthetic plastics and, thus, is more prone to be readily abraded or scratched, thus obscuring portions of the watch face and, in addition, detracting from the decorative effect of the watch. Some conventional devices, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,756, have been designed to protect a watch crystal.
Some conventional devices include a centrally-located guard member that prevents reading of the watch hands when they are located in the central position on the watch and cover some portion of the watch hands or indicia.
Some conventional devices include metal shells that cover the face of the watch, making the reading of the time, as indicated by hands of the watch, extremely difficult. These metal shells are intended to convert a pocket watch into a wrist watch, but do not afford any protection to the crystal of the watch since they are disposed outwardly of the crystal and are located, generally, in the plane of the crystal.
It may be desirable to provide a crystal protector that does not obscure portions of an instrument necessary for reading the time and/or other types of indicia on the face of the instrument.